A farmer passed away and left 17 cows to his three daughters. The instructions left in the will said that the
oldest daughter was to get 1/2, the second oldest 1/3rd, and the youngest 1/9th. The three sisters, recognising
the difficulty of dividing 17 cows into these fractions, got flustered and began to argue. Their stepbrother heard
about the problem, and being a mathematician instantly knew the answer so he got his cow and walked over to the farm
to settle the matter. He added his cow to the 17, making 18. The oldest therefore got 1/2, or 9, the second oldest got
1/3rd, or 6, and the youngest daughter got 1/9, or 2. Adding up 9, 6 and 2 equals 17. The wise stepbrother, having
settled the argument, got his cow back and walked home.